Monday, January 10, 2011

PowerSecure International, Inc. today announced it has commissioned a new landfill gas power system on behalf of Flint Energies and Houston County, Georgia. The new system turns methane gas from the Houston County Landfill into clean, "green" electricity. A commissioning ceremony was held to formally place the system in service, bringing to completion a project which was announced and initiated in December of 2009. The ceremony was attended by approximately two hundred people, including officials from Houston County, Flint Energies, and PowerSecure.

As an added benefit to the community, PowerSecure and Flint have built the facility to be a showplace for "green" education, including students and adults. The facility includes an observation room, equipped with screens which provide real-time data about the system's operations and the electricity it is generating. One of the first tour groups to visit will be the Youth Leadership Class from Warner Robins on Jan. 12.

Landfill gas, largely methane, is produced when materials in large landfills decompose. Previously, the gas in the landfill was piped to the surface and "flared" or burned off to dispose of it. These greenhouse gases are twenty times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. The alternative to burning methane gas is to use it as a fuel for power generation. The Houston County landfill is slated to have an extremely long life of approximately 40 to 50 years, and as the landfill grows, the quantity of the methane gas will also grow.

Sidney Hinton, CEO of PowerSecure, said, "We are thrilled to be able to serve Flint Energies and Houston County with this new renewable energy system. The system is designed to provide continuous power from methane which was previously flared - providing financial and environmental benefits to the community. We are committed to providing a best-in-class system and gold standard service to Flint and Houston County for years to come."